Automatic door opener



Sept. 8, 1931.

w. sYKEs AUTOMATIC noon OPENER Original Filed Nov.

26, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 wz Dwbzwwen g Sept. 8, 1931. I

w. SYKES AUTOMATIC DOOR OPENER Ori inal Filed Nov. 26, 19

9%QDM7z C 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 8, 1931 WILLIAM SYKES, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS Original application filed November 26,1928, Serial No. 321,822.

January 16, 1930.

My invention relates to mechanical door openers for garages and the like. While 1t is applicable to the larger doors of commercial garages as well as small ones connected with the residences, it is particularly applicable to the latter because of its small initial cost and negligible maintenance cost. Although satisfactory devices ope'rated by compressed air or electricity have been perfected and used to a considerable extent'upon doors of commercial garages, they have been too high in initial cost and in cost of operation to become available generally to the small car owner for his private garage.

In addition these are, in most cases, rather complicated devices the repair and operation of which requires skill beyond that possessed by the average car owner and 1nvolves, in connection with a single car, labor and inconvenience greater than does manual operation of the doors.

Yet the utility of a simple device for this purpose is indisputable. The motorist returning to his garage on cold winter nights would not be compelled to approach to within a short distance ofthe garage doors and then get out of his car, wade through snow, perhaps, then fumble with the latch, and finally, after getting the doors. open, wade back to the car through the snow. Again, in rainy weather he would not be required to expose himself in opening the doors nor in going to and from them for the purpose.

. The present application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 321,822, fild November 26, 1928, for automatic door opener.

Therefore, vention is to produce a mechanical door opener for garages which may be operated by the driver of a car Without leaving his seat behind the wheel.

A further object of the invention is the provision of door swinging mechanism employing a guided compression spring arranged through expansion to cause the opening of the door, and. automatic means for fixing and holding the door in its open the general object of myin striking the sides.

AUTOMAT C noon ornnnn Divided and. this application filed SeriaI No. 421,081.

pcllsition against the pressure of wind or the Other objects are the provision of a door opener of simple and sturdy construction. which is easily and cheaply constructed, and which may be operated practically without cost once the initial installation is made.

Still further objects and advantages of my construction will be evident to those skilled in the art from the description and claims together with the accompanying drawings in wh ich- Figure 1 is an elevation of double doors to the inside of which my invention has been applied Fig. 2 is a top view of a door with the opening mechanism attached thereto showing the closed position in dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig.

-wardly and is hinged at 40, Fig. 2. While the exact location of the bar is not important I have found it advantageous to have it near the center of the doors for reasons which will become apparent. The bar hangs loosely from the swing to and-from the door. A bumper plate, not shown, on the outside of the door is attached to, the releasing bar through a rod 13 which passes through a small opening in the door. This rod is given a slight curvature corresponding 'to the are upon which it moves in order that it may pass through the opening in the door without The. elevation of the bumpe'rplate is such that it will correspond with the elevation of the front bumper of the Iautomobileused. It may, on the-other hand, be made'sufiiciently large to accommobolts 11 to permit it to date all makes of cars without change. An eyelet or slot 14 is placed in the lower end of the bar and is adapted to receive therein a latch or pawl 15.

The latch 15 is attached to the door near its bottom edge, directly below the releasing bar and in a position to cooperate therewith as shown, by means of a bracket 16. The releasing bar is arranged to lift the latch 15 free from a projecting ledge 22 attached to the floor of the garage by meansof lag screws 23. A bracket 24 is attached to the floor in aposition to stop the inward move inent of the door. v

It will be seen that in order to release the latch the operator of an automobile need only drive the car up to the garage door until its bumper strikes the bumper plate. The plate will be moved inward forcing the release bar away from the door and releasing latch 15. When the latch is thus released the door swinging mechanism causes the doors to swing open,

The door swinging mechanism may be attached to the doors at any desired elevation but it has been found convenient to attach it near the top where it is out ofthe way as shownin Fig. 1. Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, a swinging arm 25 is attached to the face of each door frame 26 by means of a bracket 27 having an end 28 bent at right angles to the,body portion and a bolt29 passing therethrough. The arm as shown is made from a strip of flat metal and near its center is twisted through a. right angle to present a face parallel to the door. The outer end 30 0f the arm is bent atsub'stantially right angles to the face of the bar and the face of the door and is slotted out as shown in Fig. 4 to cooperate with a guide bar collar 31. A wire loop or similar means is employed to hold the end of the swinging arm in position.

I The guide bar collar 31 consists of a portion slidably mounted upon a guide bar 33 and having an annular rim 3% at each end with a central depressionto receive the end of the swinging arm. The centraldepressi'on is somewhat wider than the thickness of the arnrpermitting angular movement thereof within the depression as the door opens and closes. The guide bar 33 is a round smooth bar slidably mounted on the door through angles 35 and 36 at opposite ends thereof. A return stop plate 38 having a depressed center is attached to the arm in a position to cooperate with the angle in av manner shown in Fig. 3 to prevent the door from being blown shut by wind while in the open position. The ends 37 of the bar areheaded to prevent them from slipping from the supporting openings in the angles. Around the guide bar, and bearing between the guide bar collar 31 and the supporting angle 36, is a spiral spring 39.

The door swinging mechanism is assembled as shown in solid lines in Fig. 2 with the angle 35 near the end of the guide rod and in a position to cooperate with the return stop 38. The angle 36 is then attached to the door 10 at a point whereby the spring 39 is placed under sufficient compression to actuate the door. It will be seen that when the door is then brought to the closed position shown in dotted lines the spring will be brought under considerable compression which will be sufiicient to cause the door to swing about its hinges 40 when the latch 15 is released. If the spring should become weakened use or for any other reason it should. become necessary to increase the compression'on thespr ing the angle 36 may be moved inward along the guide bar 33 thereby increasing the normal pressure on the spring. While Fig. 2 shows but a single door; it will be apparent from Fig. 1 the manner in which the swinging mechanism is mounted on double doors. The same parts are used in the assembly for each door.

The manner of operation of doors embodying my invention is very simple. The operator drives his automobile up to the door and forces the bumper. plate inward raising .the latch and releasing the doors. When the doors are thus released the door swinging assemblies, the springs of which are under compression when closed, cause the doors. to swing open. Iii.the meantime the operator has reversed his automobile far enoiigh to permit the doors to open. As the doors reach their open position the inner angles 35 come under the return stops which act to hold them open against nioderateforces such as the ,wind. I

, It will be observed those'skilled in the art that the cost of constructing my improvement is very low. No expensive or hardened parts are used except the springs, in'est of the parts eing capable of manufacturefrom band orstrap iron. The operation of my invention is exceedingly simple requiringno fine adjustments or complicated mechanism and, therefore, results in a sturdy construction. Although I have de- .scribedit as applied to garage doors and operable by means of an automobile bumper it will be evident that the invention is applicable to swinging doors applied to other structures such as barn doors, furnace doors, and the like where thelatch may be operated by the feet or hands of the operator.

While I have described in detail for purposes of illustration a particular embodiment of my invention I am aware that numerous cl i-angesmay be made in my con-- 6171110131011 without departing essentially from thespirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

1. In adoor opener, means for causing a lee door, adapted to occupy an open and a closed position, toswing to the openposition when unlatched comprising, a compression spring positionedon the inner surface of the door substantially parallel thereto, means for supporting and guiding said spring, means for support ng said last mentioned means, a swinging arm adapted to act between the inner end of said spring and a fixed support and swing fwith said door as it moves between its open and closed position, a fixed support for'pivotally supporting one end of said swinging arm positioned to'cause said spring to be contracted when said door is moved to its closed position and permit the expansion of said spring to move said'door to its open position, means for stopping the door and holding it at a desired open position, and means for varying the normal pressure on said spring to alter the velocity with whichsaid door is actuated.

2. In a'door opener, means for causing a door, adapted to occupy an open and a closed position, tojswing to the open position when unlatched comprising, a compression spring positionedon the inner side of the door sub-V stantially parallel thereto, a guide bar arranged to support and guide said spring, brackets arranged to support said guide bar at each end thpreof, one end of said spring being arranged to bear against the bracket at the outer end of said guide bar, a swinging arm having one end pivotally supported on the door frame, means for slidably con necting the opposite end of said arm to said guide bar to slide outward thereon when said-door is moved to the closed position and inward thereon when moved to the 7 open position, the inner end of said spring being arranged to bear against the last mentioned means whereby said spring is compressed when said door is in its closed position and serves to move said door to its open P position.

3. In a door opener, means as claimed in claim 2 wherein the means for slidably connecting the end of the swinging arm to the guide bar-consists in a guide bar collar arranged to slide upon said guide bar, said collar having a flange at either end to provide a central groove of greater width than theswinging arm, to receive said arm and permit angular movement of the latter with respect to the collar.

4. In a door opener, means for causin a door, adapted to occupy an open an a closed position, to swing to the open position when unlatched comprising, a compres-' sion spring. positioned onithe inner side of the door substantially parallel thereto, a

guide bar? arranged to support and guide said spring,an inner and an outer bracket arranged to support said guide bar near each end thereof, a swinging arm having one end f pivotally supported on the frame of said door in substantially the same horizontal plane as said guide bar, means for slidably connecting the opposite end of said arm to said guide bar to slide outward thereon when said door is moved to the closed position and inward thereon when moved to the open position, the inner end of said spring being arranged to bear against said last mentioned means and the outer end against said outer bracket whereby said spring is compressed when said door is in its closed position, and expands to cause said door to move to its'open position, means permitting the movement of said outer bracket to vary the pressure on said spring, and means attached to said arm engageable with said inner bracket to fix the open position of said door and hold the latter in its open position.

5. In a door opener means for causing a door to swing open when unlatched comprising a swinging arm attached to the side frame of the door, one end of said arm being centrally slotted and lying substantially at right angles to the door, a bracket. and pivotal bolt for supporting the arm on the door frame, brackets attached to the door, a guide rod slidably mounted in said brackets near the swinging arm therein, a coiled expansion spring acting betweensaid slide collar and one of said guide rod brackets whereby each end parallel to the face and upper edge said spring is compressed as the door is closed and expanded when opened.

6. In a door opener, means for causing a door, adapted to occupy an open and a closed osition, to swing to the open position when unlatched compr sing, a compression spring positioned on the inner surface of the door substantially parallel thereto, means for supporting and guiding said spring, means for supporting said last mentioned means, a swinging arm adapted to act between the inner end of said spring and a fixed support and swing with said door as it moves between its open and closed position, afixed support for pivotally supporting one end of said swinging arm positioned to cause said spring to be contracted when said door is moved to its closed position and permit the expansion of said spring to move said door to its open position, and means for stopping the door and holding it ata desired open position.

In witness of the foregoing I afiix my signature.

' WILLIAM SYKES. 

